Memories of Houston

In the late seventies I was several times guest of the Sakowitz family at their splendid home in the very exclusive River Oaks suburb of Houston. 

Sakowitz, the fashion specialty store that catered to the tastes and foibles of generations of wealthy Texans, filed for protection from creditors in 1965 under Chapter 11 of the Federal bankruptcy law. One of the last great family-owned department store chains in the United States, the 83-year-old company cited troubles in the oil and gas industry as the main reason for the action. Sakowitz earned a reputation for daring as a fashion retailer and tried to outshine its famed Texas competitor, Neiman-Marcus. Sakowitz is noted for its Christmas catalogue, which last year presented such offerings as a life-size replica of Rome's Trevi Fountain for $2.25 million. Today the site of the downtown flagship store can only be reached by those willing to face flood waters which continue to become deeper and deeper across America's fourth most populous metropolitan area.